Finding vintage camera lenses can take some time to learn and figure out how to do it right. If you don’t do you research on vintage lenses before you start buying you can make a lot of costly mistakes fast. This vintage lens buying tips video will help you get started off on a good foot.
Tuber Mark Holtze tells us vintage lenses aren’t as hard to find as you might think. In the video below he describes his three favorite ways he has gotten his hands on some quality vintage camera lenses.
1. Ask your family and friends if they have any old cameras and lenses they aren’t using. You may be surprised at what people have hidden away in a back closet somewhere.
2. Online sellers – Ebay, Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, Kijiji, and other online sellers. Very easy to search through lenses with the click of the mouse. Safe shopping if you pay through PayPal. Not so safe if you meet up in a shady location to swap cash for camera gear.
3. Vintage camera shows – Probably the most fun option to find those obscure vintage lenses. Great way to learn about lenses when you speak with the sellers themselves. They can be hard to find in many locations. If you live in big cities you will be in luck.
It is not hard to get carried away when browsing lenses at a camera show. I always get there and want everything. It can get costly. One thing to make sure to do is bring your camera that you will be using the vintage lenses on. Also bring any lens adapters you already own with you to mount them on your camera body for testing. This will quickly let you know if there are issues like, no infinity focus, spots of fungus, sticky aperture blades, and so on.